It’s May, folks, and that means that New Year’s resolutions are either well on their way or long forgotten. If you fall into the latter camp, you might be feeling discouraged, but you don’t need to be. There is no law that says setting out to achieve your goals is somehow better in January than it is any other month of the year. So why not start now?
Of course, like everything, that is easier said than done. To help, let’s take a look at some simple steps that you can take to better achieve your goals.
Step One: Set the Goal
This sounds simple enough. In fact, you have probably already done it, to a degree. But for this to work, you need to be pretty specific. General goals, while good, are also too difficult to make a plan for. So if your general goal is to make more money, think of something you can do to actually make more money, and make that your goal.
Step Two: Break it Down
Now that you have a fairly specific goal in mind, it is time to break it down into steps, much like we have done here. Doing this helps you in two ways. One: it helps the process feel less overwhelming as you can tackle it in bite-sized pieces. Two: it forces you to think about what it is going to take to meet your goal, waking your mind up to it.
Step Three: Schedule It
If you already have a planner app, use that. If you don’t have one, get one. Schedule all those little steps into the planner, giving yourself realistic dates as mini-goals to complete each step by. This structures things and helps you stay focused.
Step Four: Bring Someone Else In
When you keep goals to yourself, it is easy to get tired and let them go. But if you bring someone else in, you feel motivated to keep going so they do not know you gave up. Yes, it is a bit manipulative, but the fact is that it works.
Step Five: Do it Daily
Even if you cannot meet one of the smaller goals you planned each day, there will be something you can do every day to bring you closer. At the start of each week, plan out these smaller actions so you know what you will be doing and it is easier to follow through.
Are you ready to tackle your goals? Get to it!
